<p>As in, top ten among ALL colleges and universities, public and private! Here is the list:</p>
<p>America's</a> Best Colleges List</p>
<p>If you're lazy, Pomona comes in ninth, behind Princeton, Williams, Stanford, U Chicago, Yale, Harvard, West Point, and Columbia.</p>
<p>Just thought you guys might be interested in that.</p>
<p>Why is Pomona ranked below Williams? Last time I checked, we were more selective (both through admission rate, class profile, and test scores), more diverse, had a greater endowment per student, had better financial aid, and were tied in all other aspects (graduation, retention, student: teacher ratio). Pomona students to enjoy a better quality of life than those at Williams. </p>
<p>Granted, Williams is a wonderful LAC deserving of its rank, but just comparing Pomona and Williams makes me wonder why. Williams has maintained its reputation while Pomona’s has been incrementally rising.</p>
<p>Why? Honestly, it’s probably at least a little bit due to east coast bias. Although I am surprised that Pomona ranked higher than Amherst and Swarthmore, which usually place ahead of us (USN&WR had us at 4th among LACs behind those schools in some order).</p>
<p>For reference, though, the rankings (for the most part) are not based on that sort of stat. Here</p>
<p><a href=“CollegeLifeHelper.com”>CollegeLifeHelper.com;
<p>is the methodology used by Forbes in the creation of the list. To summarize, it’s a combination of student satisfaction (weighted at 27.5%), post-graduate success (32.5%), student debt (or rather, lack thereof - 17.5%), four-year graduation rate (11.25%), and academic success (11.25%). I’m not sure in which categories Williams outperforms Pomona, nor am I sure where to find such information. Sorry I can’t answer your question.</p>
<p>I just read the article and rankings methodology, and it really seems like a very good system for evaluating the quality of education delivered. They intentionally do NOT use prestige etc. as a direct factor. Congrats Pomona.</p>
<p>FYI, Williams has also been ranked #1 pretty consistently in USNWR for the last several years. Pomona is a peer institution of Swat, Williams and Amherst, all in the same league (but different flavors).</p>